Steel Cut Oats with Dates

Those of you who follow me on twitter, or who follow me in real life, a.k.a. real-life friends/family, know this is a big week! I am working on my research study for my thesis (will be half done data collection after this week), am moving home for a year (I haven't lived at home for more than a few months in 6 years), and am heading to Italy on Friday (I have never been across the ocean).  I have been preparing for a while. Slowly moving some things home, packing here and there, planning for the trip, etc. etc. I have also been trying to reduce some of my pantry and freezer stocks. This has caused me to be a bit more creative as well as reduce my grocery lists. I have also had some help from my parent's garden for supplying me with fresh veggies.

While this week is all about quick breakfasts since I need to be at school by 6 am most days, I had some leisurely mornings last week. This allowed me to cook up the rest of the steel cut oats I had laying around. I also managed to use up a few dates in the process.

Steel Cut Oats with Dates

1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup steel cut oats
4 small dates, chopped

1. Bring water to a boil. Add oats and stir.
2. Bring back to a boil and reduce to a simmer.
3. When the oats are 1/2 done (5-8 min) add the dates and stir in.
4. Continue to simmer until desired consistency is reached.

These oats were the perfect sweetness for me. I rarely sweeten my hot oats, and usually just top it with a dollop of peanut butter, so this was a treat! It was the perfect amount of sweetness as it was subtle and throughout the oats, due to cooking the oats with the dates. Even with the dates, I still topped it with some peanut butter. It's my favourite.

I made this a couple times and in this picture I used steel cut with some rolled oats since I didn't have enough of each. I finished off two canisters on this breakfast. To me, emptying canisters feels like checking off an item on a to do list. Call me crazy!

I will have at least one more recipe before the end of the week. Todays post is about leisurely breakfasts, but the next one will be a breakfast recipe for those rushed mornings. Stay tuned!

Peanut Butter Banana Protein Smoothie

Now does it feel like summer or what? I had another fantastic cottage weekend (2 in a row) this past long weekend. It is so nice to be by the water with friends, relaxing by the water, boating, canoeing, making s'mores, drinking some beer, and getting mosquito bites. Well, maybe the last part isn't so nice, but it comes along with all the pleasures of a cottaging weekend.

Cooking kind of takes a back burner in the summer I think, as making a fresh salad and not turning on the oven sounds like a better idea. The recipe I am going to share with you today is just what the summer calls for. It does not require cooking, could replace a hot breakfast, is cold, and tastes like a delicious milkshake. I have been delaying sharing this recipe because I don't have a picture of it, but a request for a smoothie came along and did not want to delay in sharing this amazing recipe.

Peanut Butter Banana Protein Smoothie

1 cup soy milk
1 tbsp ground flax seed
1/2 medium banana
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1 tbsp peanut butter

1. Blend all ingredients until smooth.

This smoothie is actually amazing. It tastes so rich and the peanut flavour really comes through. I have yet to take a picture of this beauty, but it is a beige thick liquid with specks of flax throughout if not having a picture is throwing you off ;). A picture adds nothing to the story here.

In lieu of a picture of this plain looking smoothie, I am going to show you a picture I took of my meal two weekends ago when we went out for dinner in the Muskokas. It is just an iPhone pic, but it will have to do. A friend of mine has a fantastic picture, but he is being a bit slow in sending it to me *hint hint*. This post just could not wait. I am sure I will update the post with the much better picture, that my talented friend Derek took (me sucking up a bit), soon enough.  Updated picture from my friend Derek!

This was a beet risotto from the restaurant we went to somewhere in Muskoka. It was amazing. It was one of the few vegetarian dishes on the menu (unless they used chicken broth, but I don't think they did) and I ordered it out of curiosity. The risotto was creamy, sweet and had a touch of lemon, potentially just from the lemon zest. In the middle of the bowl was a thick slice of baked brie cheese, and pistachio pieces were sprinkles on top. The flavour combination was unreal. I hope to one day recreate this dish but I have a feeling it wont happen until the fall, as I could not bring myself to stand over a pot for an hour and a half in this heat. Instead, I think I will make a peanut butter banana smoothie.

Here are some other pictures of where I have been hanging out on the weekends:

Lake Joseph

Lake Joseph

Maple Lake